Purifier and oil separating apparatus



March 14, 1944. c, RQWASEIGE 2,344,068

PURIFIER AND OIL SEPARATING APPARATUS Filed April 16, 1941 Patented Mar. 14, 1944 UNITED mm'rcs I Charles Raymond Waseige, Bueil, France; vested in the Alien Property Custodian Application April 16, 1941, Serial No. '388,8'l7

' In France April 30, 1940 (Cl. 183-453) i 3 Claims.

This invention relates to a purifier and oil separating apparatus arranged to be inserted in a gas circuit with the object of separating therefrom the liquid particles of-oil or the like carried thereby.

Said invention more particularly'relates to a purifier of the kind comprising a cylindrical chamber in which the air or other gas to be purified is imparted a whirling motion so that the oil particles settle'on the walls of said chamher, fiow down said walls and arethen dis-' charged by means of a channel connected with the lower part of said chamber, while the air escapes through an outlet provided at the uppe part of said chamber. a

In apparatus of this kind as hitherto in use. the oil discharge channel connects directly. eventually through a valve, with the inner chamber of the purifler.. not impairing the operation when the pressure in this discharge channel is substantially lower than that obtaining in said chamber, is however disadvantageous when the oil is to be discharged into a sump or reservoir the pressure in which is practically the same as or even greater than that obtaining in the purifier. In this case, the discharge of oil will not be properly effected, and the back-pressure in the discharge channel impairs the operation of the apparatus as a whole and impedes .the flow of the oil.

One object of this invention is to' provide a purifying and oil separating apparatus of the aforementioned type, which is able to operate -properly even when the oil is to be discharged into a sump or reservoir the pressure in which is equal to or higher than that of the gas to be purified. Another object is to provide a purifiermore particularly though not solely adaptedto be used in plants on board of aircraft in which the separated oil is to be returned to the crank case of the engine or to a sump or reservoir connected with said crank case; a still further object is to provide a purifier of the aforesaid kind which may conveniently forni the connection between the crank case of an engine and the open air so as to act as a breather.

In accordance with an important feature of the invention, the connection between the inner chamber of the purifier and the oil discharge channel is effected through a separating device or extractor. In 'a preferred embodiment, this extractor is in the form of a cylindrical body the outer side wall of which is provided with a spiral This arrangement, though positive discharge of the separated oil-by forci bly driving the same into the discharge .channel, even when acting against a substantial backpressure. a

In-ancther embodiment, the said cylindrical body is hollow and its side wall is provided with ducts opening into said groove, the oil to bedischarged being delivered into said body. The oil is thus centrifugally driven through saidducts. This centrifugal separator or extractor may also serve as a purifier if, according to another feature of the invention, the gases to be purified.

are sodelivered into said cylindrical body that they circulate therethrough,the oil particles in suspension thus being centrifugally separated in the cylindrical body itself and thrown uponv its peripherical wall from which-they are discharged by said ducts.

The purifier according to this embodiment may be constructed as an independent assembly driven by a prime mover-electric or otherwiseor the aforesaid rotor in accordance to a preferred embodiment may be arranged in the crank case of a combustion engine and driven by a driving connection from the engine shaft.

Another object of the invention is to remove as completely as possible the oil particles that may settle upon the walls of the outlet of the purifier, which outlet may be conveniently pro-' vided with an inner screw thread the pitch of which is in the opposite direction to that of the whirl formed by the air in the purifier.

In view of this object, in accordance with an important feature of this invention, also usable independently of the features above described, the wall of the aforesaid outlet is provided with a tangential passage turned in the same direction as the whirling motion and opening into a small chamber from which the oil is discharged by a conduitrconnected with a suction means.

In a convenient embodiment the discharge conduit'rof the aforesaid small chamber is connected to the oil extractor already mentioned.

The oil contained in the small chamber is thus sucked by the aforesaid extractor acting as a pump or the like and is discharged together with the oil that has been separated in the body of the purifier.

' Other objects and features of e invention will be apparent from the following d scription given with reference to the annexed drawing and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing are shown only by way of examples the rotor the purifhar comprises avertically arranged hollowbodylhavinginsldeacylindrlcalchamberi intowhichtangmtiallymaninletpassagei fortheairorother.gastobepmifled,saidpassage slightly slanting downwards The inner wallofchamberiisfacedwithawiregauaeor slevelcan'iedbyadaneiwhichrestsuponan upwardlyfacingshoulderlcarriedbythelower partofsaid ,saiddomeibeingprovidedwith peripherical gaps. Behrwtheshoulder I thechamberlisfunnel-likeandleadstoadishargingduct II. Thelatteropensintnacylindricalsleeve llcaniedbythebodylandclosed byacapli. Thesleejvellservesasacasingfor a worm II, a space li being provided between the endofthetbreadedpartofsaidwonnandthe bottomofsaidcasing. Theductllandapassagel'lleadingtoadrain-offconduitltrespectively open into the casing m opposite sides of saidthreadedpart. 'lhewormiiismountedon a spindle 2O moimied in a, bearing and projecting outwardly. Said spindle II is provided with a catch pin 22 for coupiingsame with the shaft ofanelectricmotorllsoflratsaidspindlemay be rotatingly driven thereby. Thus the cylinder iiandthewormlirotaiingthereinformsapositive extractor for the oil, since the oil is forced bythewormliintothedrainconduitit.

Thechamberiisclosedatitsupperpartbya cover 25 having centrally a cylindrical outlet 26 through which the purified air is to be discharged, said outlet being surmounted by a cap IIprovidedwithawiregame. Theoutlet 251s provided with an inner mew-thread the pitch of whlchisinanopposite dimctiontothe whirlingmoiionimpartedtotheairenteringthrough theei. Aslantingdmt3l,openingtangentially into the outlet 26, connects the latter withachamber 3i ionnedinthecover 15, said chamber beingclosed byaplug 32. Die bottom of this chamber 3| inclines towards an outlet passage 34 leading to the aforesaid space I6 at therightendofworm Ii (asshowninFig. Din casing.

Theairorthelikeenterlngintothechamber 2 through the passage 3 causes a downward whirling flow along the cylindrical wall of said chamber, andthe particlm of oil carried in suspensionareretainedbythewiregauzeiandfiow upon the dome ,being then directed through tbeholeslandthepassagelltothecasingil, fromwhichtheyarerurwvedbytheworm l drivenbythemotorilsothatthey are forcibly drivenintotheconduit llevenifabackpressureobtainsinsaid conduit, asisthe case, for examplewhensaidcmduitleadstoihecrank caseofaenginetothehreathertube ofwhichthepassagelrnayheconnected Thepurifiedairucapesthrnughtheoutletli. Theoilpariieieswhichmaysiillbecarriedin suspemionflierelnsetfleonthewallofsaidoutletandreturntothechamberibyfiowingalong thethreadofsaidoutlda. 'nielastparticlesflow tbroughthedmtilintoflremallchamberfl frolnwbichtheyaredrawncllt rtberelative a e ts vacuum or suction caused by the extracting pump consisting of the worm II and the casing l2, through the passage 34, into said casing, to be directed therefrom by conduit I8.

In the modification shown in Pig. 2, the channel 30 opens into a small chamber II. A Pitot tube 38 arranged vertically and opening opposite to the gas inlet 3 assures the discharge from said chamber ii and produces therein a slight suc tion.

Figs. 3 and 4 relate to a purifier the body I of which is secured in the crank case 39 of a combustion engine and has a cylindrical chamber 2' closed by a cover 25' provided with holes ill-4|. This body contains. an oil extractor in the form of'a rotor integrally connected with a spindle 4t mounted in ball bearings 48, 4! carried respectively by the body I and the cover 25. The lower end of said spindle is integrally connected with a pinion gear engaging with a pinion gear 6| driven from the engine shaft. The rotor is in the shape of a cup. The bottom 53 thereof is provided with holes I! and webs 56 are provided between the spindle 48 and the annular wall II of said rotor. The latter is provided with radial holes extending throughout its annular wall 59 and its outer surface is provided with a spiral rib 6| substantially engaging with the cylindrical inner wall of the chamber 2' of the purifier. The rib II is a screw-thread the pitch of which is such that the rotation of the rotor forces oil downwardly. Opposite to the peripherical rim of the bottom it is an annular groove 62 connecting through a channel III with the inside of the crankcase. A channel 3' opens into the lower part of the chamber 2 and delivers air charged with oil particles. This air is admitted by the holes 65 in the rotor, by which it is centrifugally separated. The oil particles fiow through the holes of the wall 59 into the spaces between the rib portions'and is driven by the web portions into the groove 62, from which it falls back into the crank case through the channel Ill. The purified air is discharged through i the holes 40, 4|.

The invention obviously is in nowise limited to the embodiments shown and described by way of examples. Thus particularly the purifier according to Figs. 3 and 4 may be constructed in the form of an independent assembly and driven by an electrical or other motor.

What I claim is:

l. A purifier and oil separating device for compressed air and other gases including a cylinder, a hollow cylindrical body having radial perforations cn its side walls and provided with a spiral groove in the external face of its wall and rotatably fitted within said cylinder, oil discharge means from said cylinder, said hollow body having a perforated bottom, means for supplying the gas to be purified into said hollow body through said perforated bottom, and means for rotating said hollow body.

2. A purifier of the typedescribed including areservoir, a cylindrical chamber, an inlet condult for the material to be treated, outlet conduits and a discharge conduit into the reservoir, a rotatable cup shaped member having inlet oridoes in the bottom and perforations in the side walls thereof journaled within the chamber, the material to be treated entering said member through the orifices in the bottom thereof and through centrifugal action being separated therein. the separated material passing through the perforations in the side walls. and an esterrotary cylinder with a Ioraminous side wall arranged for rotation within said chamber and a spiral rib on the outside of the cylinder adapted to advance the oil passing through the cylinder 5 toward the discharge conduit.

CHARLES RAYMOND WASEIGE. 

